Evolved Packet System (EPS) is a core network architecture associated with the third generation partnership project (3GPP) wireless communication standard. The EPS includes an evolved packet core (EPC) through which traffic, associated with a communication session with a user device, is transported to and/or received from a network (e.g., the Internet, a packet data network, etc.). The EPS also includes a long term evolution (LTE) network, which is a radio access network (RAN) via which the user device communicates with the EPC during the communication session. The EPS may communicate with an Internet protocol (IP) multimedia subsystem (IMS) core. The IMS core may manage authentication, session initiation, account information, profile information, etc. associated with the user device.
The IMS core may permit a communication session to be established, between a user device and a destination device, that allows the user device to access a service from, place a call to, and/or exchange messages with the destination device. A policy charging and rules function (PCRF) server may identify a manner in which to charge a user, of the user device, based on a charging action associated with the session. An offline charging action may usually be used for postpaid services where the user is billed at the end of a time period (e.g., on a monthly basis, a semi-monthly basis, etc.) based on an amount of data and/or bandwidth used. An online charging action may usually be used for prepaid services where usage and/or charges are determined and/or controlled on a near real-time basis based on an amount of data and/or bandwidth used. A null charging action may permit the user to be billed based on minutes of usage (e.g., when neither an online nor offline charging action is performed). Unfortunately, as more and more types of services and/or traffic types are being transmitted via the EPS, it is becoming more and more difficult to identify which charging action is to be used for a particular communication session.